Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for Nervous System Healing: A Trauma-Informed Approach
By: Joy Stephenson-Laws, Holistic Coach, J.D., Founder
Healing doesn't start with understanding. It starts with safety.
But before we talk about healing, let's back up. What are we actually healing from? And why does the body need to heal in the first place?
Why Your Nervous System Gets Stuck
Your nervous system is designed to protect you. When it senses danger—whether that's a car accident, a difficult childhood, chronic illness, or years of grinding stress—it shifts into survival mode. Resources get pulled away from rest, digestion, and repair, and funneled toward one goal: keep you alive right now.
This isn't a flaw. It's brilliant design.
The problem comes when the threat passes but your body doesn't get the message. Or when the stress is so constant, the inflammation so persistent, or the overwhelm so deep that your system can't find its way back to safety on its own.
That's when the nervous system gets stuck.
Not broken. Stuck. Still doing its job—just the wrong job for the current moment.
What Happens When You're Stuck in Survival Mode
When your body is locked in protection mode, everything else takes a back seat:
Healing slows down. Your body prioritizes defense over repair. Injuries linger. Recovery takes longer. Inflammation sticks around.
Digestion, sleep, and hormones suffer. These systems get deprioritized when your body thinks it's fighting for survival.
Emotions get backed up. Feelings that should move through you get stuck instead. You might feel anxious, reactive, numb—or swing between all three.
You lose access to yourself. Creativity, connection, presence, joy—these aren't available when your system is on high alert.
Over time, it wears you down. Living in survival mode is exhausting. It depletes your body and your mind.
This isn't a character flaw or a mindset problem. It's physiology. Your body is doing what it thinks it needs to do. It just needs help remembering that the danger has passed.
What Healing Actually Means Here
When we talk about healing in this article, we're not talking about fixing something broken. Your nervous system isn't broken—it's stuck.
Healing means helping your body shift from protection mode back to restoration mode.
That involves:
Feeling safe enough that your body can stop bracing for danger
Letting emotions and sensations move through instead of getting stuck
Widening your window of tolerance—being able to handle more without shutting down
Coming back to presence, connection, and calm
Giving your body the conditions it needs to repair, restore, and rebalance on its own
Healing isn't something you force. It's something you allow—once the right conditions are in place.
And that's where safety comes in.
The Foundation: Safety
Before your nervous system can process emotion, let go of old pain, or take in new ways of being, your body needs to feel safe enough to stop protecting and start restoring.
When you're overwhelmed, inflamed, or running on empty, your body does exactly what it's designed to do—it protects you. Healing has to wait.
That's where hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) can help. Not by forcing anything, but by giving your body what it needs to feel safe enough to heal.
Your Nervous System Is Always Asking One Question
Every moment of every day, your nervous system is asking: "Am I safe?"
If the answer is no, your body shifts into survival mode. You might feel:
On edge or ready to fight
Frozen or shut down
Constantly watching for danger
Emotionally reactive—or completely numb
When you're in these states, healing isn't the priority. Survival is. And no amount of positive thinking can override a nervous system that's stuck in stress mode.
Here's the thing most people miss: safety isn't just a mindset. Safety is something your body feels.
Your Body Needs Energy and Oxygen to Feel Safe
Your brain and nervous system use more energy than almost any other part of your body. When oxygen isn't getting where it needs to go—or when your cells don't have enough fuel—your body stays on high alert. Even if your life is calm and stable on the outside.
This is where hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) works its magic. It's not fancy. It's foundational.
By getting more oxygen into your tissues—especially your brain—HBOT helps your body:
Make more cellular energy (that's ATP, your body's fuel)
Calm down inflammation in the brain and nervous system
Repair and rebuild
Lower the baseline level of stress your body carries
In plain terms? HBOT helps your body shift out of survival mode and into rest-and-repair mode.
How HBOT Tells Your Body It's Safe
During a session in a hyperbaric chamber, many people notice:
Their breathing slows down naturally
Their muscles start to relax
That "on guard" feeling fades
A calm, almost meditative state settles in
These aren't just nice feelings. They're signs that your parasympathetic nervous system is waking up. That's the part of your nervous system responsible for rest, healing, and connection.
Research backs this up. Studies show that hyperbaric oxygen increases parasympathetic activity and activates the vagus nerve—the main nerve that helps your body shift from stress to calm.
When your body has enough oxygen and energy, it doesn't need to stay on high alert anymore. And that's when real healing can happen.
Why Emotional Healing Gets Easier
When your nervous system isn't fighting to survive, something shifts:
Big emotions feel more manageable
You're less reactive
You can handle more without shutting down
Insights actually stick—they don't just stay in your head
You can stay present with what you're feeling
This is why therapies that work with the body, emotions, and trauma often work better when you're also supporting yourself physically.
When your body is regulated, you have more capacity. When you have more capacity, healing flows.
Working from the Bottom Up and Top Down
HBOT doesn't replace emotional healing work. It supports it.
Think of it this way:
HBOT works from the bottom up—body, brain, biology
Therapy and inner work move from the top down—emotions, meaning, understanding
When you do both, the gap between knowing something and actually feeling it gets smaller. Healing becomes easier because your body isn't fighting against it anymore.
Does the Type of Chamber Matter?
Yes—especially when the goal is safety, calm, and emotional healing.
Different chambers create different experiences, even if the science underneath is similar.
Mild (Soft) Hyperbaric Chambers
Often found in wellness centers and integrative clinics
Lower pressure (usually around 1.3 ATA)
Typically use ambient air or an oxygen concentrator
Soft, flexible walls
Generally feel more comfortable and less intense
Why some people prefer these for nervous-system work:
The pressure changes are gentler on your body
Less likely to feel triggering or overwhelming
Easier to tolerate if you have a trauma history or are sensitive to enclosed spaces
Supports a gradual shift into calm rather than intensity
Research shows that even mild HBOT at 1.3 ATA can reduce brain inflammation, support mitochondrial function, and improve how you think and feel—especially when a gentler approach matters.
When you're working on feeling safe in your body, the goal isn't to push your system. It's to resource it.
Medical-Grade (Hard) Hyperbaric Chambers
Used in hospitals, clinics, and specialized centers
Rigid, solid walls
Can operate at a range of pressures—from around 1.5 ATA up to 2.5 ATA or higher
Often deliver 100% pure oxygen
Follow strict medical protocols
These chambers are essential for serious medical conditions like carbon monoxide poisoning, non-healing wounds, and radiation injuries. Many clinics also use them at moderate pressures (2.0 ATA or less) for brain health and recovery.
The environment tends to feel more clinical. For some people, that's reassuring. For others—especially those focused on emotional or nervous-system healing—the intensity might feel activating rather than calming.
What Matters Most: Felt Safety
In trauma-informed care, safety isn't just about what's physically safe. It's about what feels safe to your body.
A chamber that feels too intense, too enclosed, or too clinical might trigger your nervous system—even if nothing is actually wrong. For emotional healing, that felt sense of safety is everything.
The best choice depends on you, your history, and what your body needs right now.
A Safety-Centered Way of Thinking
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy helps your body feel safe and energized. When your nervous system isn't struggling to survive, emotional healing becomes easier, more lasting, and more real.
This isn't about speeding up your healing. It's about creating the conditions where healing can happen naturally.
One Last Thought
Safety isn't a luxury in healing. It's the foundation.
When your body feels safe enough to rest, your heart can feel safe enough to open. And when your nervous system is supported at the biological level, emotional healing doesn't have to work against your body anymore.
It can finally work with it.
Joy Stephenson-Laws, J.D., is a healthcare attorney with over 40 years of experience championing fairness in the healthcare system. She is the founder of Proactive Health Labs (pH Labs), a national non-profit that now embraces a holistic approach to well-being—body, mind, heart, and spirit. As a certified holistic wellness coach, she helps individuals and families create practical, lasting health strategies. Her own experiences as a mother inspired her to write resources that spark important conversations about safety and wellness.
She is the author of Minerals – The Forgotten Nutrient: Your Secret Weapon for Getting and Staying Healthy.Her children’s book, Secrets That Sparkle (and Secrets That Sting), empowers kids to recognize safe vs. unsafe secrets in a gentle, age-appropriate way.
Her latest book, From Chains to Wings, offers compassionate tools for resilience, healing, and emotional freedom.
References
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Marcinkowska AB, et al. Impact of hyperbaric oxygen therapy on cognitive functions: a systematic review. Neuropsychology Review. 2021.
Doenyas-Barak K, et al. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy improves symptoms in veterans with treatment-resistant PTSD. PLoS ONE. 2022.
Andrews SR, Harch PG. Systematic review: hyperbaric oxygen therapy efficacy in PTSD treatment. Frontiers in Neurology. 2024.
Tezgin D, et al. The effect of hyperbaric oxygen on mitochondrial and glycolytic energy metabolism. Cell Stress and Chaperones. 2020.
Case Report: Low pressure hyperbaric oxygen therapy for chronic inflammatory response syndrome. PMC. 2025.
Hyperbaric Cardiovascular Effects. StatPearls. 2025.
Molecular and Therapeutic Aspects of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy in Neurological Conditions. PMC. 2020.
This article is for educational purposes only and is not medical advice. If you're considering hyperbaric oxygen therapy, please talk with a qualified healthcare provider.